Mr W Clarke Brown, Friend For the v The Tewkesbury Marina Ltd — 2021

Mr Mark Brown had worked for the respondent since January 2012, later as Senior Harbourmaster. He was summarily dismissed on 10 February 2020 after a meeting with the managing director, Mr Mark Cottrell, where he was told he was dismissed immediately for gross misconduct. The tribunal found that he had not been given prior warning that the meeting was disciplinary, had not been told the allegations, had not been shown evidence, and had not been informed of his right to be accompanied. He appealed and raised a grievance, and a Zoom meeting on 27 April 2020 chaired by Eagle HR considered the appeal and grievance, but no evidence was ever provided to substantiate the allegations and the process did not result in a substantive response.

On the breach of contract claim, the tribunal found that the respondent produced no evidence to prove that the claimant had committed gross misconduct. It therefore held that he had been entitled to eight weeks' notice and had been wrongfully dismissed. Using his net pay and crediting three weeks of alternative employment at Tesco, the tribunal awarded damages for breach of contract in the net sum of £2,148.68.

On the unfair dismissal claim, the tribunal applied section 98(4) ERA 1996 and the conduct dismissal authorities it cited, including the Burchell line of cases, Polkey, and Taylor v OCS Group. It found that the respondent had not carried out a reasonable investigation, had not shown a genuine belief on reasonable grounds that gross misconduct had occurred, and had acted outside the band of reasonable responses. The tribunal awarded a basic award of £5,769.24 and a compensatory award of £11,242.48, including loss of statutory rights, net loss to the date of hearing, and future loss. It then applied a 25% uplift for repeated breaches of the ACAS Code, producing final compensation for unfair dismissal of £21,264.65. The Employment Protection (Recoupment of Jobseeker's Allowance and Income Support) Regulations 1996 were held not to apply.